More Traffic, Less Parking

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, traffic has become an issue at UC Merced. Students are no longer able to get to campus on time to attend their classes and are facing punishment for tardiness. Due to the growth of UC Merced, many students did not have the option to stay on campus anymore. Students living off campus often find themselves commuting to school which lead to higher amounts of traffic. It is a general form of advice to people leaving for the university to leave early and make time for traffic and parking. The struggle that the students put into making it to class on time is not acknowledged by the University at all.

Alex Mejia-Santana, a concerned UC Merced student voiced, “It seems the school is unprepared to handle a high influx of students, and as a result, students are either late or
missing classes. It is getting to the point where professors are beginning to either penalize or shame students for arriving to class late. (granted this applies to students who arrive 3-5 minutes late to class…not 20-25 minutes.) As a student, I pay a high amount of money for these classes so it is in my best interest to attend, however, I find it unfair that professors penalize or shame students for arriving late- they are perpetuating the idea that it is better to miss the class than arrive 5 minutes late. I wrote this as a concerned student of the school because there have been general complaints about traffic but no real plans of action.”

No student is alone in facing these problems, even professors find it difficult to get on campus. Generally, any university, state college, and community college face the similar problem of parking and traffic. Indeed, it is very inconvenient and frustrating to wake up early only to find that there is traffic or no parking. Unfortunately, that is a problem every student will face while attending college and will continue to be a problem in the world outside of college.

UC Merced has already taken action to implement solutions to the traffic and parking issues. It is stated in the 2020 Project that the program will include a transit hub, 1,500 parking spaces and a new campus entrance on Bellevue Road, but unfortunately it is a process. UC Merced is a growing facility that will continue to provide what is needed to accommodate to student’s needs. Until there is a permanent solution, there are temporary solutions that include riding a bike to school, carpooling, or parking at Lake Yosemite.

Photo Credit: Chris Pang

Hello Prodigy readers! The Prodigy News will be posting a follow-up article in the coming weeks that features an update on the new parking lot at the top of the hill, North Bowl Lot 2 as well as updates from TAPS about the state of the CatTracks bus system. Stay tuned!